Daniel Day-Lewis takes the titular role in Spielberg’s masterful film about the iconic president and his struggle to pass the 13th Amendment in support of his Emancipation Proclamation, even as the Civil War continues to tear the country apart. Filled with themes and ideas that are still sad, and frighteningly relevant, this looks at a…
Tag: Hal Holbrook
Magnum Force (1973) – Ted Post
Clint Eastwood returned as Detective ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan for a second outing in 1973’s Magnum Force, despite the fact that he seemed to be quitting at the close of the original film. This time out the gritty, and occasional racist and misogynistic film sees Harry hard at work in his beloved San Francisco, when a…
The Fog (1980) – John Carpenter
The venture into the paranormal continues as I delve into the chapter on ghosts in DK Canada’s very entertaining Monsters in the Movies book. This time, it’s John Carpenter’s take on what plays out as a classic ghost story. The story itself is basic, and in the hands of Carpenter we get a creepy little…
All the President’s Men (1976) – Alan J. Pakula
One of the films that are on DK Canada’s What Else to Watch list after I screened Battle of Algiers is one of my favorite newspaper films, All the President’s Men. Based on the brilliant expose by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein the film is as relevant now, perhaps more so, as when it was…
Into the Wild (2007) – Sean Penn
The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of American Beauty is this drama that casts Emile Hirsch in the role of Christopher McCandless. A top student, a promising athlete, Christopher, upon his graduation from Emory University, gives away his money to charity, and begins a…
Trailer Tracks: The Fog (1980) – John Carpenter
I’m a huge John Carpenter fan, and came to his movies in the late 80s with Big Trouble In Little China and then a severely cut version of The Thing aired on television. I was intrigued, and started hunting down all of his movies at the local video store, Vision Video, and this one…
The Mind Reels 